Nowadays we get humans getting reincarnated into another world; sometimes, though, it can be the other way around. In this case, we have a heroic battle between the forces of good led by the Calamity Crusher against the necromancer simply known as the Corpse God. In the final moments, the Corpse God unleashes a spell that engulfs the area, and before we know it, everything turns pitch black.
Then the words of a young man appear, confused at his situation. When he finally opens his eyes, the city of Shinjuku emerges instead. Did the Corpse God send the legendary Calamity Crusher to another world?
Nope — he sent his own self to another world.
Dead Mount Death Play takes the usual spin regarding reincarnation and flips it slightly. For starters, we follow the Corpse God instead, now known as a human named Polka, in the modern day. While the backstory explains his true character and goals, we’re ultimately following someone who’s put countless people to their deaths. So yes, we’re following an antagonist’s attempt to try and live in peace, and since he wasn’t able to do it in his own world, he’s gonna try it in a brand new world.
The one problem — the body he’s now in has a hit on him!
This is primarily where my interest lies, and feels very familiar from the creator of Baccano! and Durarara!! — some sort of mystery and a large cast of characters in major conflict. The mystery — aside from the Corpse God escaping his own world — is Polka. After taking over his body, “Polka” suddenly learns from his assassin that he’s supposed to die. That assassin, a crazy-eyes looking young girl in a school uniform known as Misaki, actually kills the original Polka…but who ordered the hit on him in the first place? Seeking answers, he “accidentally” kills Misaki and revives her, then “teams” up with a mysterious freelance agency that was hired by someone to kill Polka in order to understand what’s going on.
Will he understand? Might be a while before we know — numerous factions and organizations with their own goals appear throughout this volume, and all of them find a way to be connected. This just means something big will go down, and the end of this volume promises that when a supposed urban legend appears. So all in all, putting the pieces together is what’s keeping me engaged. The characters? I guess so. While we on the surface know who “Polka” is, many other seemingly intimidating/confident characters appear with their own goals.
Which ultimately means each connection is tenuous at best. Those two police officers interact with the freelance agency like they frequent the place — both hide their main intentions. “Polka” has the magic to end anyone’s life — but has to work with the freelance agency because he has zero understanding of the real world. Then what happens when an abnormal being appears that’s a threat for both sides? You get a really enjoyable read where you’re curious about what happens next.
That said, there are a lot of characters that appear. You get to know them by their actions and looks. For example, “Lisa Kuraki” (known as Clarissa) wears a monocle, has enormous boobs (the manga makes sure to emphasize that with Misaki…whose boobs are also big), lots of money and seems well in control of her group. Tsubaki is a sweet-talking guy with knowledge that works for a special division within the police. Some characters are gonna be worth being attached to, while others will likely stand out in individual moments. The art by Shinta Fujimoto is nice to look at, but for the most part, it works when these characters move…and not when they try to joke all the time.
In any case, while the mystery of what happened to the original Polka is up in the air, the way this manga teases the Corpse God’s original world makes me think there’s going to be a back and forth. As in, there’s a connection somewhere that might bring these two distant worlds together. That might be a good call as the manga explores who’s right and who’s wrong with each character. And it sure will do its best to play morals as Dead Mount Death Play continues.